Borgman, D. (1988). Prolegomena to Youth Ministries. S. Hamilton, MA: Center for Youth Studies.

(Download Prolegomena to Youth Ministries as a PDF)

The bus was taking a long time in arriving, and Byang worried about being late for work. Rather restlessly, he put some shillings in the hand of a young boy for today's paper. The front page told of some recently released unemployment rates, of some new educational proposals, and continued resistance fighting in an African nation. Inside the paper, a letter complained about a wife who was neglecting children and household management. Afraid the bus would never arrive, Byang reluctantly squeezed into a matatu. He was annoyed at the way the boy, who had welcomed him on, proceeded to stuff him deeper into the pack of fellow passengers. Another young fellow leaped on the moving bus disregarding all possibilities of danger.

In this brief start of a working day, Byang already had several contacts with youth. And every article he read contained deep implications for young people. Youth suffer from unemployment, from educational inadequacies, from weakening families-and they are fighting and dying in wars and guerilla activity around the globe. Everyone seems to be in favor of youth work, but little is being done about it. There are obvious reasons for such inattention to the key to our future. Adults lack knowledge of youth's difficulties, fear rejection and derision, have limited time and energy, are apathetic, and are preoccupied with the adult world. Consider the neglect of youth and youth ministry a little more deeply.

To begin, note how the Gospel comes first of all to adults. The adult church must receive our first attention. Adults are the primary decision-makers, and the New Testament encourages the responsibility of evangelism on heads-of-households. Nurturing families and small children are the next priorities. Attention to those leaving family and finding their own way in the world should be the third-important emphasis.

Faced with the double challenge of adults and small children, the church often fails to produce the energy and resources needed for its third priority-those who are no longer dependent children nor are yet independent adults. Adult needs and problems can drain the power of the church so that Sunday School-"the children's church"-is attended only with strong insistence by the pastor or Christian Education director. It is rather understandable, then, that lacking are the will, time, and money needed for youth, the "the third church."
There is a second reason why youth work is neglected; it involves the nature of adolescence. The transition from childhood to adulthood involves a critical and often painful change from dependency to independence, from being part of a family to creating one's own. In tribal and traditional societies, this transition is clearly structured. But in modern, urban societies, young people find themselves in progressive age-groupings without clear rites of passage. Modern elite youth may find themselves in a sub-culture of private school or urban life in which friends, music, school, and the media are primary guideposts. Inherently, such a sub-culture sees itself at least in contrast to, if not in rebellion against, the dominant adult culture.

Young people living at a subsistence level in the country or urban streets may be fighting for survival. If they are lucky, they may dream of school and yet find themselves confronted by a lack of fees, a limitation of educational facilities, personal failures, or unwanted pregnancies. Street youth, too, form a sub-culture little known or understood by most adults.

This growing separation of youth from adults in modern culture produces the second reason for the neglect of youth ministry. Adults may be threatened by the private or sub-cultural attitudes and knowledge of young people. They wish that things could be "as they used to be," and they worry that they don't have the special skills needed to reach today's youth.

Adults themselves may be struggling with the pressures of modern society. Most adults are facing the economic pressures of raising a family and providing some kind of financial security for their own future. Modern society tends to place less responsibility for aged parents upon children. Increasingly, women are involved in the workforce. Most families today depend on two incomes. So, for most of those who could become adult role models for youth, there simply isn't enough time and energy.

Finally, for these and several others reasons, youth ministry itself is not held in high repute. Adult sponsors may see their work as a necessary task of the church-like serving on a given committee. Little training and inadequate resources are allotted for youth ministry, and few theological schools offer challenging courses in this critical area. Yet, youth ministry is a critical area of the church, not only because young people are the future of church and society, but also because most decisions of faith are made or reaffirmed during adolescence.

Ministry to youth is also important because young people are idealistic; they raise some of the most important questions about church and society. Unanswered, these questions may lead to cynicism, apathy, or anti-social extremes. A church, on the other hand, that struggles with young people for Biblical answers to life's current issues will find itself prophetic, dynamic, and growing. Church and nation are stronger when the younger generation find caring adult role models and openness to their interests and issues in attractive youth programs. Young people who search hard after truth, justice, and peace will be great assets to their community of faith and to the larger society.

The transition from traditional to urban ways is not without special difficulties; the loss of traditional values can create painful voids-this makes youth ministry in the African context a high challenge. New stresses upon the family, the increasing importance of friends, the demand for education, financial pressures, the basic longing for romance and marriage, and the influence of music and media make youth work a vital need in all modern societies.

The critical and complex nature of this challenge suggests that youth ministry be considered a fledgling profession needing to assume its place alongside medicine, education, and social work. Youth ministry is a profession because it demands specialized knowledge and skills and treats one of society's most treasured commodities. It should, therefore, elicit the respect of society. Today, it desperately needs the resources and general support given the other professions in our society.

Whether it is seen closer to Christian education or missiology, the study of youth ministry should have high priority in the church and its theological institutions. Those called to serve youth at this point in history will often find themselves in a lonely and misunderstood ministry. They will face difficult issues of role, status, and financial and spiritual support. Only the call of God, with the adventure and satisfaction of affecting young lives will sustain them. Deep in their hearts they will know the reward to be more than worth the sacrifice and struggle.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. What five reasons are given for the neglect of youth ministry?
2. If there is some validity to these reasons, what will it take for the Church to overcome these obstacles or difficulties?
3. What does the church lose, according to this article, if youth ministry is neglected?
4.  

1. Should youth ministry be treated as a profession?